The Hindu
Coming Home With their debut album. Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

Junk Rock band Boomarang talk about their dreams, music and making it big in the music scene

Some dreams are meant to come true and for Junk Rock
band Boomarang, the dream of making it big came true recently. The
Mizoram-based four-member band was recently selected by Universal Music
for the Contra Bands Project and given a platform to spread their music
to the world.

Preceded by their first single ‘Stellar’, the video of which premiered on VH1, Boomarang’s debut album, Home
is scheduled to be released later this month supported by a multi-city
tour across the country. The band was in the city recently to perform at
the Hard Rock Café.

Comprising Atea on vocals, Boom
on the guitars, Joshua on the bass and RS on the drums, the four-piece
band has its roots in good old rock music infused with jazz, funk and
punk with a hint of reggae.

“This is a dream come
true for us. Everyone needs good Rock ‘N Roll everywhere and we are here
to deliver just that,” says Atea before getting on stage for the gig.

Though
relatively new on the mainstream music scene, Boomarang is no stranger
to laurels, having won several national awards in addition to performing
at international festivals.

They have played
alongside international acts such as Korn, Lamb of God, Aurora Jane,
Fire house, Tribal Tech, Enslaved, Intron out and Scott Kinsey Band.
Besides this, they were also named ‘Top Ten Bands to watch out for’ by
the Rolling Stone magazine in India.

Bangalore is not
a new for Boomarang. “We have played several times in all the major
music venues across the city. The music scene is pretty good in
Bangalore,” says Atea.

Excited about their debut
album, Atea gives a sneak peek into its collection. “Boomarang has been
around for a while. We started in 2005 and the songs in the album have
been around with us ever since we started. The album is more about our
journey. It doesn’t specifically have a theme. These are songs that have
our ideas, dreams and beliefs translated into music. The songs in Home are
also mean to inspire people to find a new meaning in life, to serve
some purpose in this lifetime and always know that when it all ends, we
can finally go Home.”

The band, which started
with a humble union from different bands in 2005 and doing covers of
Rage Against the Machine, has now become an enterprising symbol of the
new genre Boomarang loves to promote. “We don’t like to stick to one
particular genre. Though its good old rock we play on stage, we like to
call it ‘Junk’ so we can play whatever we want,” shares Atea.

Drawing
inspiration from Rage Against the Machine, Incubus, Jimmy Hendrix and
Led Zeppelin among others, Boomarang has become comfortable doing their
own songs which have a niche following already.

“When
we started playing, we sounded a lot like Rage Against the Machine.
Over the years, we’ve played and travelled a lot and developed some sort
of originality infusing our own signature into our sounds,” Atea
explains.

All their songs are purpose-driven, he
says. “Boomarang makes songs that are simple but are meant to be heard
and enjoyed.” On future plans, Atea says the deal with Universal was the
best thing that ever happened to them. “This is what we have been
waiting for. We were good and successful but never really made it
anywhere. This is the perfect platform for us to go places we have only
dreamt about. It’s a new beginning for us and we are looking forward to
where Universal takes us.” To upcoming bands , Atea says dreams do not
come true overnight. “It’s a rough journey and nothing happens
instantly. You need to work hard and believe in what you do. There are a
lot of troubles and sacrifices. I even quit my government job to play
with the band. But that is the beauty of what we do. We are passionate
about our music and believe in it. ,” he says.